Hello from England!!

[jsb93]

Hello all,

Just thought that I would introduce myself here, so when I eventually start asking you hundreds of questions you know a little about me.

My name is James, I’m 21 and I’m a veterinary nurse from England who has just started his first kit 7 days ago. It seems to be going well! I haven't come across any problems yet and I’m still following the instructions to the letter (I’m trying to reduce the chance of coming home one day to a firing squad of wine bottles popping away in my garage ).

I chose to start Beaverdale's Gewürztraminer white wine kit and was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it? I would like to think I chose the wine for intellectual reasons, but I actually chose it because:

- I have never had it before. Therefore, when it tastes like crud it’s not my fault! Gewürztraminer is just bad wine
- I have always preferred white wines to reds, probably a result of my age...
- It was a laugh to try and say...

I will be coming up to the de-gassing stage in a bit, I understand that this is a crucial stage that will dictate how well the wine will clear? Can anybody share any experiences with me? I am currently perusing the forums for information anyway so no worries if you can’t

Anyway, enough rambling. I’m sure I will have plenty of time to irritate you with the metric system and hope that I won’t be needing too much advice!

James

 

[Kraffty]

Welcome aboard, I've no experience with that brand kit but it sounds like you're doing a fine job for the first time.
Ask away around here, lot's of people willing to lend a hand and share their knowledge.
Mike

 

[ceeaton]

I think 23 Liters is 6 US gallons, that's the only metric I know. You could become our metric mentor!

I've only been making wine since last November and this is a fantastic place to learn. The only comment I have on de-gassing is to definitely follow the directions and remove a few liters before de-gassing unless you want a nice mess to clean up.

Hope you enjoy this hobby and the many successes that await you in the future.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT, James. I like your sense of humor already!

For degassing, you have a few options:
-time
-stir by hand with a paddle (a LOT)
-use a rotary paddle or "wine whip" powered by an electric drill. See http://www.midwestsupplies.com/mix-stir-agitator-rod.html or http://www.homebrewing.org/Wine-Wand-Three-Prong-Degasser_p_3396.html
-use a vacuum pump of some sort, either electric, or a "brake bleeder" or "Vac-u-vin."

Note: all of these methods work significantly faster if the wine is lukewarm, like 70-75F. (Sorry, you get to do the conversion to C! )

Best of luck!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Welcome James !

I do hope the best for you - if you have any questions about using a vacuum pump in order to degass -
please PM me and I will call you back at my earliest convenience.

 

[vernsgal]

Hi James and welcome to the forum.I love your choice for all your reasons. Still don't know how to properly pronounce "Gewürztraminer".(had to copy paste just to put here lol)

 

[the_rayway]

Welcome to the forum! So glad there's another metric user on-site

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi James - and welcome (from an ex-pat from across the Scottish border).

 

[JohnT]

Hi James and Welcome!!!

 

[grapezilla]

Hi James, I'm bottling my Beaverdale Gewürztraminer this week, no idea how it'll be. It was my first bottle bomb so it's just two thirds of an imperial gallon but I'm sure it'll be decent.

 

[jsb93]

Hello all,
Thank you for such a warm welcome! Its great to know that if I ever get stuck there are some friendly people willing to lend a hand.

I have chosen to use a wine whip to degas the wine, I'm not sure I would stir it enough otherwise and I'm not ready to invest in a vacuum for it. I will probably end up making one in the future but want to fully understand the process and have a few goes before I invest too much in to it, I'm sure I will love it though!

The wine is down to 990 and i couldn't see any more bubbles of co2 so I transferred to the secondary and have added the stabiliser. I was going to start the degassing process tomorrow. I was going to do short amounts 3 or 4 times a day for 3 days and then do the shake test on a small sample to see if there is any co2 left in it, can anyone see any problems doing it this way?

Let me know how the bottling goes, I still need to order some bottles to put the wine in once it's done..

James